|
|
|
We travelled to Great Barrier Island on Jan 2 2008 on the Fullers Fast Cat which took approx 2 hours. The sailing was mostly smooth with a few swells when we crossed the tip of the Coromandel. Nothing this sea-puppy can't handle. The ferry was modern and came complete with cafe and plenty of comfortable seating both inside and out. It certainly proved to be the better option to the 5 hour slow boat alternative.
We took all our mountain bikes with us and travelled with packs rather that suitcases. Upon arrival at the Tryphena wharf we were met by all the rental car / shuttle buses and made arrangements for our bags to be transported to the accommodation whilst we made our way by pedal power. Wow, was that a quick indroduction to the geography of the island - up and down, up and down, twisting and turning for about 5 km. The kids moaning and groaning all the way (and the bid kid too!).
Sure enough, all our gear was waiting for us at the Pohutakawa Lodge, neatly stacked in the entrance when we finally got there. We were met by the very friendly owners who had only taken over the pub and accommodation two weeks earlier. We quickly learned that they were suffering MAJOR teething problems.
Our room was far, far better than the "backpacker" accommodation I thought I had booked. It was very new, modern and quite classy in its own way, with a gorgeous view over the garden and hills from our shared deck. The occasional waft of sewerage was slightly disconcerting but hey - we're here and we're not complaining. We didn't complain either when we had no hot water in the bathroom - the island itself has no power and everything is powered by generator or gas. Turns out our gas waterheater was on the fritz, as was the sewer system. Nevermind it was to be fixed the next day and we could shower in another empty room in the meantime. Well, the situation didn't improve over the next 7 days, but we got by and still enjoyed our lovely coldwater room and had dinner on the house as compensation. This equated to about one nights free accommodation.
Day 1: We had a meal in the pub with friends who were staying on the other side of the island and had a swim at the local white sand beach.
Day 2: Grabbed the kayaks and dad and Ash headed out for some fishing whilst Jord and I hung out in the bay - WITH THE DOLPHINS!!! What a fantastic experience! About 20 common dolphins - mostly mothers with babies cruised around the shallows swimming in and out of all the kids and us on our kayaks. Jord jumped overboard and actually had one swim right past her outstretched hands. We couldn't wait to tell the other two what they had missed. When they finally arrived home (fishless I might add), Ash could hardly contain herself - the dolphins had swum by them too! Fantastic!!
Later, the kids went to stay at a DOC camp over the other side of the island with our friends for the night - roughing it!
Day 3: Another lovely day ripe for exploring on our bikes without the kids. So what else is there to do but to tackle the humungous mountain between the leeward and windward side of the island. Oh My God! It just went up and up and up forever. I think I got about two thirds of the way up before reluctantly hopping off to push the rest of the way. Our only saving grace was that it was a great downhill once we got to the top!~ We spent the morning lazing on Medlands Beach which was simply beautiful. White sand for miles, few people and blue, blue sea. Perfect. And if I thought that getting there was a pain in the ass - the return journey was a nightmare! We decided to make our way back along a walking path instead of backtracking the way we came. All was going great and we kept commenting to ourselves what a wonderful mountain biking track it was... until we hit the mother of all hills. I'm not joking when I tell you that this hill went straight up - no zigs, no zags for mile after mile after mile. It was so steep I could barely walk up it let alone push a bike. If it wasn't for wonderful Steve pushing both his bike and mine, I would probably still be inching my way up. That was a real "I'll be glad when we're home" day...
Later in the afternoon we picked up our rental car keys (car was dropped off at the gate) and off we went over the hill again (man, that was a BIG hill) to collect the girls. The roads on Great Barrier are only tar sealed for about 30 km, after that it's dirt, dust and teeth rattling bumps. The poor car actually lost a couple of screws whilst we had it - they just got rattled out! Kids had had a good time and continued to play spotlight with the others till we left later in the evening.
Day 4: More exploring of the island - decided to walk to the Kaitoke Hotsprings in the middle of the island. This walk took about and hour each way thru some lovely native bush. When we arrived there was one other group of four young adults and we weren't too keen to take a soak. Fortunately we heard some other folks talking about another rock pool further up the track. This was so beautiful! Like having our own private little grotto to have a hot soak in. We then tried a bit of rock fishing - unsucessful again!
Day 5: Still have the car. We went over to visit friends on the other side again and did a great walk up to Windy Canyon. On a clear day the view would be fantastic but as it was quite cloudy and we were so high there wasn't much to see (except for the sheer drops either side!). Traveled to Whangapoua Beach with friends and did a bit of surf casting /floundering - nothing again! What happened to all the fish????? Ended the day at Port Fitzroy at the Northern end of the island before returning the car.
Day 6: Back to pedal power - up and over some more hills to nowhere and spent the rest of the day reading and relaxing on the beach. The weather has started to pack in now and it's not that condusive to sunbathing. Steve went out fishing with friend and managed to bring back a feed - but only just. He's decided it can't be the right season for fishing GBI and he'll have to come back another time of year to get the BIG one.
Day 7: Last day - and it's raining - well, drizzling. Nothing much to do once we'd packed up. Arranged to have our gear transported to the ferry and we made our way bit by bit back to where we started. Again the ferry ride was smooth and we were all the way home by 6pm.
All in all a great family holiday, ok accommodation, excellent scenery, but 7 days was enough especially as it was raining everyday at the end.
previous travel blog entry
Would you like to comment or ask a question?
Sign up for a free account, or sign in (if you're already a member).